Firearm



Patented Oct. 12, 1943 fr Y2,331,372 i FIREARM Andrew E. Buchanan, .'Jr., Fairfield, Conn., assignor to Remington Arms Company, Inc., a-

corporation of Delaware Application January 3, 1941', Serial No. 372,974

' '4 claims. `(c1. vL12-71)V 'j rIhis invention relates to the stock and vforeend portions of a firearm, and moreparticularly to improved ornamentation or checkering on `'the hand-grip areas thereof. Y

Heretofore it has been the practice to checker 4the hand-grip portions of the fore-end and stock of a firearm either by the use of a few types of manual tools in the hands of `skillful operators or by semi-automatic machinery. The handtooling method is obviously slow andv laborious and ill-suited to present day production methods,` while the use of semi-automatic machinery is, due to its high cost, imfpracticable and necessarily limited to certain standard patterns or designs. y

ltv is therefore proposed to provide an im.

Yproved method of checkering which is both economical and suited to quantity production meth'- ods. of this invention to pre-form checkering, prior toits attachment to the gun parts, of amaterial I comprisingr a suitable thermo-plastic or thermof that the sides 'I ofthe recess slope inwardly and,

as a result, have a keylike retaining'effectfon the checkering-piece lwhich is slipped beneath v kkthe undercut edges as hereinafter described.'v It will be understood that a similar recess is pro?" More specifically, it is an important object setting plastic or resin, such as cellulose nitrate or phenol-formaldehyde respectively. A further object is to mold plastic checkering and'tol secure the pre-formed checkering to the handgrip portions of a firearm.

The above features of the invention, together with other advantages not already mentioned, are more fully disclosed and described in the accompanying specification and drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a checkered-piece mounted on the stock of a firearm.

Fig. 2 is a cross section of the stock of Fig. 1 on the line 2-2.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a checkered-piece applied to the hand-grip area of a fore-end.

Fig. 4 is a cross section of the fore-end of Fig. 3 on the line 4-4.

Fig. 5 represents a cross section'of a stock having a modified form of recess and retaining grooves.

Referring to Fig. l, I represents one vface or side of the wooden stock of a firearm having the usual butt-plate 2 at its rear end and the handgrip portion 3, hereinafter referred to as the pistol-grip portion, at its other end. Numeral 49 designates the upper edge of a seat or recess 5,

see Fig. 2, the recess being shallow, preferably, and suitably formed in the face of the pistolgrip portion 3. For the sake of clarity, the term seat as hereinafter used shall be understood to mean any recessed portion of the firearm.

The dotted line 6 represents the lower edge of the vided on the' opposite face of' the butt.

The checkered-piece 8 is formed yof a suitable plastic, preferably as a thin sheet, withtheplur'ality.'or` series lof intersecting lines known" .in the art as checkering molded thereon. In the drawingthe checkered-piece shown isprovided with'a plain marginal area 9, but it will be read` ily appreciated that the shape and design'of 'th moldedcheckered-.piece may be of any configuration and intricacy desired,k asdetermined by a master mold, and that, Vhaving-once ac?. rquired 'a' set of master molds, .the manufacture of such checkered-pieces may be carried on at production rates and at minimum expense.. The plastics used may be any'onefof the well-known thermo-plastic or thermo-setting .plastics or resins, such as cellulose nitrate,'.phenolformal dehyde,u urea-formaldehyde, `cellulose acetate,

lvinylacetate and vinyl chloride polymerizedto gether, or methyl methacrylate. y of the injection or die cast type may be usedin an accepted andV well-known manner to pre#y l Y form the checkered-pieces of any of the Aalcove mentioned plastics. It is to be distinctly understood that the above examples are merely illusi trative and that other suitable plasticsV may be employed.

The molded checkered-piece, preferably in vthin sheet form, is adapted to be applied to the hand-grip areas of the firearm, i. e. thek stock pistol-grip portion 3, as shown in Fig.v 1, and the fore-end, as shown iny Fig. 3, by inserting the edges of the checkered-piece beneath the undercut edges 'I of the respective recesses provided therefor. 1 Preferably a compatible adhesive, such as cellulose nitrate plus 'a solvent, is first n applied beneath the under-cut edges of the re-'f the wood and the checkered portion used.

An alternative method of applyingthe .checkc ered-piece to the firearm is illustrated in Fig. 5,

in which the sides I0 of the recess slope outwardly'and a narrow groove I I is cut around the lower edgeof the recess to a depth slightly below the plane of Lits surface 5a. In applying lthe Suitable molds.

compatible adhesive may be and is preferably used to effect a permanent bond between the surfaces in contact.

Fig. 3 illustrates a molded checkered-piece'B applied to the fore-end of a firearm, said foreend having a recess 5 formed therein provided What is claimed is:

1. A firearm having a Wood stock, a shallow recess in said Wood stock at a hand grip portion thereof, said recess having undercut margins, and a thin sheet of molded material having alcheckered exterior surface held in said recess with the marginal portions thereof interengaged with the undercut margins of said recess and the exterior surfaces substantially flush with the contiguous surface ofsaid stock." n

2. A firearm having a wood stock, a shallow recess insaid Woodstock at a hand grip portion thereof, a counter recess adjacent the margin of with under-cut edges .1, see Fig. 4. A compatible A adhesive is rst'introduced beneath the underh cut edges 7 or on the surface of the recess and thereafter the molded checkered sheet 8 islap'.`

plied as heretofore described. l

While it has been stated that thecheckered piece is formed preferably in a thin sheet, it is within the scope of this invention to pre-form `or mold the checkered-pieces in conformity with `the surface contours of the hand-grip areas of the firearm. To this lend suitable molds, such as injection molds, having the checkered area etched therein, may be used, thenished, molded, checkered-piece being subsequently fitted on the 'firearm at the proper hand-grip portion thereof.

The molded plastic checkering described' above is considered "to be a new and valuable contribution to the firearm art. In accordance with this invention, pre-formedV plastic checkering can be applied to firearms more cheaply, and'more quickly than by any known methods. Moreover moldedplastic checkering is readily adapted vto a wide variety of designs and colors and is therenfore superior to all previous methods for gun ornamentation. Finally a pre-formedv molded checkered pistol-grip not only makes possible the yturningcf amore simplified `gun-stock, with a resulting economy of manufacture, but also affords a novel method of supplying pistol-grips 'for firearms of contours, colors and `patterns `to suit lthe fancy of the sportsman.

said shallow recess, and a thin sheet of molded z material.having a checkered exterior surface held in said recessV with the marginal portions thereof interengagedl with said counter recess and the exterior surfaces-substantially ilush'vsfith the contiguous surface of said stock.

3. A rearm having a wood stock, a shallow .recess in said wood stock at a hand grip portion thereof, said recess having undercut margins, and aV thin sheetof molded material of substantially uniform'thickness Ahaving a checkered exterior ,siuface and marginal portions; saidthin sheet .being held in said recess byir1terengag`e1nent of said Ymarginal .portionswith the undercut marging 'of said vrecess with theexterior surface of the sheet substantially Vilushrwith the `contiguous sur-face ofthe stock.

'4. A firearm having a Wood stock, shallow recesses inlop'posi'te sides of said Wood stock at the pistol grip portions thereof, said recesses vhaving undercutmarginsya thin sheet of molded material of substantially uniform thickness constructed and arranged to be secured n each rejcess, each thin molded sheet having 'a checkered exterior surface, an interior surface for contact vwith the surface of its respective recess and marginal portions for i'nterengagement with the undercut margins thereof; andan adhesvefbejtween the contacting surfaces of. each sheet and its respective Arecess forming a bond therebetween whereby the ,pistol grip portion of `the stock is reinforced. ANDREW 'E. BUCHANAN, JR.` 

